The forthright and authoritative tone of this epistle indicates a writer of forceful character and of considerable prestige amongst the Jewish believers in the early church; one who, among several who bore the name of James, was sufficiently pre-eminent to be able to introduce himself to his readers without other qualification than as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ”; and one whose name could be cited by his brother, Jude, as an evident token of his own identity and authority: “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.”

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